Waiting For The Man.

Regular readers will remember that when the dismissal of Glenn Roeder as manager of my beloved West Ham United was announced, my Parallax preference was for Reading boss Alan Pardew to take over, though I doubted our board would have the balls or the bills to shoehorn him away from the grasp of Reading chairman John Madjeski. The great news is that for once the club has had the courage of their convictions and secured their first choice (unlike with Alan Curbishley a couple of years ago) and Alan Pardew is indeed going to be the new manager. The bad news is that whingeing git Madjeski (honestly, you'd think with him being a multimillionnaire and all, he'd get himself a life) has insisted on Pardew serving a month's notice, and he can't take up post until October 18. Although if it's gardening leave, I'm sure he could be a volunteer groundsperson at Upton Park and if he starts thinking aloud and the players happen to eavesdrop, it's hardly his fault, is it?

We should worry anyway, what with the 100% record of caretaker boss Trevor Brooking (that'll be the deus ex machina to you). But let's hope this all puts to bed the recent spurious talk of Reading being 'a bigger club than West Ham'. Reading have never in their history played in the top flight, while the Hammers have spent 35 of the last 40 years there (OK I'm bluffing but I'll bet I'm not far out). And when Reading supply the captain and both goalscorers to an England side winning the World Cup, then maybe we'll talk about who's 'bigger'...in the meantime, their town will have to make do with being famous for sticking Oscar Wilde in prison and being a residential dump for overpaid IT nerds.

Come on, you Hammers!